Letters by Lydia: Summer Inspiration and Resources

Happy end of semester, everyone!  Congrats to all for making it through the year, and I hope you’re all settling into the summer.  This is my last post of the school year, so I thought I’d leave you all with some ways to stay involved in handlettering and art over the summer.

First off, here are some of my favorite lettering accounts on Instagram, if you’re looking for more inspiration, resources, tips, etc.

If you’re looking for something colorful, bold, digital, and maybe politically progressive, I’d recommend @inkusdingus or @glitterandbold.  For satisfying process videos and lots of juicy pens, I’d turn to @lettersandlattesllc (who also happens to be a fellow Michigander!), or @the_letter_salon.  For bullet journaling inspiration, definitely check out @thegraytergood, and for pen and stationery recs, look no further than @amandarachlee.  As for other favorites of mine, @snooze.one is a more experimental, graffiti-inspired typographer, and @keeplivingfaster is definitely the page to visit if you want watercolor lettering and lots of glitter.  Finally, if you want a page to get some general inspo and find lots of artists, my favorite account is @goodtype.  Enjoying your scrolling!

Now, if you want some website recommendations for some stationery shopping, here my go-to’s for that.

JetPens is a classic for keeping up with new pens as well as finding the classics, plus it has lots of variety and is reasonably priced.  Stationery Pal is really fun for specialty or limited edition items, cheap stationery (like, super cheap), and colorful and fun pens, trinkets, etc.  Shipping takes a bit, but in my opinion the price makes it worth it.  Tokyo Pen Shop is a new one I’ve been perusing, so I can’t speak to how it is to order from them, but they have a lot of fun and unique items.  For more stationery rather than pen-centered products, Present and Correct is a really fun one to check out for a very vintage, specialized feel.  And, of course, Amazon is always a fast and cheap option.  If you want to do some in-person shopping, Michael’s, Blick Art Materials, and even stores like Barnes and Nobles are all good options.  For Ann Arbor stores, I’d check out Rock Paper Scissors, Papersource, and Found.  There are tons of independent stationery stores everywhere, though, so if you’re traveling somewhere, it’s never a bad idea to look up stationery stores in that area (I’ve found some really good ones that way!).  Happy shopping!

I hope that information is helpful and gives you a lot to look into over the summer if you’re interested!  Either way, I hope you all have a relaxing few months and do some art if you can or want to 🙂

The Indian Artist, Revamped: The Last Hurrah, Year 3!

Good afternoon everyone! I hope that you are all doing well and that your semester came to a successful end. Knowing that I am done with my junior year of undergrad is incredibly exciting yet terrifying at the same time. Time has flown by and I am so excited for the journey to come next!

I am currently in the process of applying to medical schools, about to depart for vacation with family, and trying not to let the anxiety of applications get to me. It has been very tough navigating the onslaught of COVID-19, moving out of home to a new environment for the first time, and juggling a part-time job, research, full course loads, and life all at once. Things did not go as planned. There have been so many hiccups and nothing turned out exactly as I had planned for. However, I truly think that I will end up where I am meant to (in the least cliché way possible).

There have been a few big lessons that I have learned this year. I have learned to stop looking outward and doing what people expect of me, and rather to treat myself with compassion and love. I have notoriously been very good at pushing myself to the nth degree. However, over this past year a lot of that has started to catch up and really affect me mentally and physically. I am trying to learn to listen to my body and mind, assess what I need to do to myself, and allow myself to prioritize what makes me happy. I am not good at following this advice, but I have learned the hard way how important balance really is.

Pursuing a career in medicine, I realized that it is important for me to establish ways of taking care of myself in order for me to fully take care of others. Nobody truly prepared me for the challenges I have faced, and the ones to come. What I have learned though is that I am fully capable. All it takes is patience, compassion, resilience, dedication, and flexibility.

Patience to wait out the bad times and know that good things are coming my way. Patience with myself as I struggle and push through challenges.

Compassion to others and myself. Compassion for those that I serve, my friends, my family, and my own limits.

Resilience to keep going, especially when things get tough.

Dedication to my passions, endeavors, and work. Dedication to my goals, to myself, and to my dream of becoming a kind, good, and successful physician.

Flexibility of mind, allowing myself to adjust my plans and sail with the changing ocean tides.

 

As I write my final blog post of the year, I hope to embody each of these values and more. I keep the image of my young self in my mind and award her the grace, love, and kindness that she deserves. Be kind to yourselves. Life is too short not to live it to the fullest. Have a beautiful and restful summer everyone!

Until next semester,

Riya

 

Instagram@riya_agg.art

Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/ 

Industrious Illustrating #39 – Life Drawing 4

At this point all my classes are over, so I want to share more of the life drawings I did in ARTDES 269 during the winter semester. I had a lot of fun and learned a decent amount from taking this course and getting to draw human figures from live models using a variety of traditional media and approaches. I’d definitely recommend this course to any Stamps majors or minors who want to learn more about drawing humans.

Warning for depictions of artistic nudity under the cut:

*Edit 5/11/2023: I fixed the image embed issues with this post!

Read More

Industrious Illustrating #38 – Sophomore Year Review Project

*Edit 5/11/2023: Fixed image embeds that weren’t working!

Apologies for not posting in several weeks. I was swamped with finals and finishing up lots of other tasks that hit me all at once.

Now that the winter semester is over, though, I can show my finished sophomore year studio project!

I did my sophomore year studio project with the intent of strengthening the concept art/visual development side of my portfolio. The bulk of my project was creating character turnaround design sheets, both for the Bhairava mech and for three of the characters in my sci-fi story concept “Blade of Seafoam”:

 

To round out my project, I did create some concept art sketches contextualizing my characters in the post-apocalyptic world they reside in, although I didn’t get a chance to finish painting these before I had to present my project before the review committee.

In the end, my sophomore year review went quite well, and I had a good discussion with the faculty review committee about my work and about my plans for the rest of undergrad. I intend to keep working on my character design and concept art skills over the summer, and I hope to share more “Blade of Seafoam”-related artwork here in the future!

Mixed on Campus #8 – Leilani Wetterau

Name: Leilani Wetterau
Mix: Chinese, White-American
Major & Year: Elementary Education; Freshman

Q: How has being mixed affected your campus experience?

A: I have never felt like I have truly fit in on this campus, or in any space in general. My whole life has been jumping from group to group. I always try to smile and laugh, because it’s lighter that way, but deep down I crave belonging. I have a great church community, family, and friends, but my ethnic identity is something that affects me everyday. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t change being mixed for anything. I know I am unique and special, and I hope everyone knows that about themselves too! <3